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20 March 2015

Our vendors: Mr Oh "Killer Smile" - The Big Issue Korea

In less than five years, The Big Issue Korea has not only
built a solid readership. It has changed the lives of its vendors across South
Korea – a nation that has rapidly become an economic powerhouse, yet remains
beset by homelessness and unemployment.

Mr Oh sells The Big Issue Korea in Seoul.

Mr Oh – also known as ‘Killer Smile’ – is one of the many
vendors in Seoul, the country's capital, who has benefitted from this support.
He became homeless after his family business failed, stripping him of his
income.

"One day I was wandering around the street trying to
get a meal. There’s a place that provides food and someone was there giving out
leaflets about The Big Issue and how it can help get you back on track. This
really interested me, so I called the office."

Mr Oh has now been selling the magazine at his pitch at Exit
8 of Seoul’s Express Bus Terminal for four years. "On average I sell 30,
starting around 5pm when people finish work," he says. "Some people
already know about The Big Issue and buy it frequently. They ask how selling is
going, and sometimes also offer me a snack – when that happens it’s really
nice."

As well as earning a steady income, the street paper has
helped him find a home. In South Korea, vendors who sell The Big Issue
for more than six months and save more than SKW1.5 million [$1580] can apply
for rental support via a government-sponsored program.

Thanks to this scheme, Mr Oh is now able to rent an
apartment in the western part of Seoul. He says that having stable shelter has changed his life.
"I have my own things in my house, can buy things I need and when I go to
sleep I can think about the future. In the past I didn’t, because I had no
hope. It has made a big difference."

Selling a street paper also reconnected Mr Oh with his
family: "I live alone, but had a chance to be on TV because of The Big
Issue, and my brothers noticed me and found me. I had become disconnected from
my family for a long time. I met my brothers and my mother – it was fantastic."

This is a summary of a vendor profile by Patrick Witton, The Big Issue Australia's Contributing Editor. He travelled to South Korea with the Walkley Foundation Australia-Korea Journalism Exchange, with support from Australia-Korea Foundation and Korea Press Foundation.

The full article has been made available to other street papers in our network via the INSP News Service here. Original interview translated by Claire Kang.